Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-09-01

day, March 18th last, the body
Of Marie Eegnault, who was also
known as Nine. de Monhlle, was
found on the floor of her chamber
dead, her throat cut and her body ter
ribly mutilated. Lying near the door
leading from the chamber to the draw
ing-room was the dead body Of An
notte, whose throat had also been cut,
andin her bed inauother apartment was
little Marie Gromeret, her head almost
severed from her body by the murder
er's knife. 1t was evident that Annette
had gone TO The rescue of her mistress,
and had been struck down by the aSSas-
sin, and that the little girl had been
murdered to put out of the way the
only Ctherwitness of the terrible crime.
a number Of jewels, which it was
known were IL the possession OF Marie
Rognault the day before, including u
gold watch, shaped ike heart aud
richly ornamented with diamonds, was
stolen Ivy tie assassin. and bloody
marks on the safe of the murdered
woman, in which were money and va
luables, amounting to nearly $4,000,
showed that he had attempted, but un-
successfully, to force this. On the
floor were found a pair of cuffs and a
leather suspeDder. on which was the
name Gustav Geissler, and il a drawer
of the bureau was a letter signed
Geissler. These were seized upon by
the Paris detectives as clues to the as
sassin, and hunt was begun for Gus
tav Geissler.
In the mean time, on the Saturday
following the triple crime a man regis
tered as Henri Pranzini at the Hotel de
Noailles, Marseilles. He inquired
anxiously for a packe. which he was
expecting from Paris, and, finding it
had not arrived, left the hotel and
spent the night wandering about the
cats and houses of ill-repute. In one
of these latter he offered for 2Of. Marie
Regnault's heart shaped watch, and the
girl to whom the offer was made recOg-
nized it at once. She notified the po-
lice as soon as Pranzini left her on
Sunday, and they traced him to
the Palace of Longchamps, where he
had gone after receiving the expected
packet at the hotel. The lakes and
other receptacles of Longchamps were
drawn, and the result was that nun
Der of the missing pieces Of jewelry
stolen from Rue Montague were tished
up. Pranzini, becoming frightened,
had taken the packet to Longchamps
and emphed its contents into cess
Enallxr arractn1 at
the theatre on Sunday night, where he
was listening, apparently with the ut
most calmness, to "The Barber Of Sc
VILE"
Nobody had seen Pranzini murder
the three inmates of Marie Regnault's
apartments, and he stoutly denied the
crime but the detectivesoi Paris, after
the Marseilles police had captured their
man, wove about him such a web OF
circumstantial and direct evidence that
his guilt was made as plain as though
he had confessed it. His entire history
was hunted up, frsm his birth TO the
assassinations which made his infamous
reputation worldwide. That history
showed that he was q thief who lives
upon his thefts and the earnings OF I'M
fortunate women who became infatuated
with him. The last Of these women was
Nine. Sabbatier, with whom he live'
at 40 Rue DIES Martyrs. This woman
6rst tried TO save him by declarin!
that on the night Of the triple Grim,
Pranzini never left her house but a
she saw the strong evidence which ha,
beep secured against her lover she re
tracted this statement, admitted tina
he was not at home that night, and tolC
the story Of his proceedings on the fol
lowing day, which were enough o
themselves to convict him. Nine. Sab
batter implored Pranzini TO make
clean confession and throw himself OF
the mercy Of the court but he wa
deaf TO her appeals. and declared hi
innocence to the last moment, not
withstanding the terrible array of I'm
answerable evidence against him.
The mostimportant witness on the tria
was Nine. Sabbatier, who swore tina
Pranzini was out all night on the nigh
OF the crime, and returned TO her lat.
thenext day. Suddenly he began TO cry
and told her lac had witnessed terribl,
scene. He said that he was with Maris
kegnault when knock was heard a
the door. She told him it was hel
lover, who was very jealous, and
pushed him into the wardrobe. The
man then entered and murdered th,
two women and girl before his YER,
eyes, and be dared not step forth L
protect them. The Ssbbatier be
heyed this story, and pawned her Jew.
els TO get the money for Pranzini 10 Il
10 Marseilles. He explained his flight